Ohio State lands two players on the 2027 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are continuing to add more and more accolades to the most prestigious program in all of College Football.
All of the wins, all of the draft picks, all of the great players all come back to one place, Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State got more good news this week as two more Buckeyes have landed on the ballot for the 2027 College Football Hall of Fame.
It was made official earlier in the week that wide receiver Cris Carter and linebacker AJ Hawk have made it onto the ballot for the 2027 class.
This comes one year after another former linebacker, James Laurinaitis, was inducted into the Hall.
If inducted, these two would be numbers 38 and 39 all-time in members of the Ohio State program inducted into the Hall. To this point, there have been 29 players and eight coaches in the history of the program. Furthermore, there has been a Buckeye inducted in each of the last three classes.
Carter was a generational wide receiver at Ohio State. His numbers are very modest, but in the mid-80s, he was well before his time. Over his career, he finished 2,421 yards on 150 catches and 26 touchdowns.
His best season came in his junior season in 1986 when he had 65 catches for 1,066 yards and 11 touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named to the 1986 All-American Team.
Hawk, on the other hand, was unquestionably one of the greatest players, let alone defenders, in the history of the Buckeyes program, no matter the era. Hawk was a four-year letter-winner and a tackling machine.
He finished his career with 394 tackles, including the high season watermark of 141 in 2004. Hawk is fifth all-time in Buckeyes history in tackles.
2005 was the year of AJ Hawk. In that season, he was a unanimous All-America after he led the Buckeyes in tackles for the third consecutive season en route to winning the Lombardi Award, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Award, and the Defensive MVP in the Fiesta Bowl.
While Hawk would be the fifth Buckeyes linebacker all-time to make it into the Hall, Carter, believe it or not, would be the first wide receiver to have his name etched in the history books. He certainly will not be the last, but it would be fitting if he were the first.
The announcement of the class will happen very early in 2027, likely during the College Football Playoffs at some point. The exact date is to be determined.
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